EPIDERMAL MODEL CULTURE SYSTEM

THE EPIDERMIS PROVIDES THE MAIN BARRIER BETWEEN THE HUMAN BODY AND ITS ENVIRONMENT, YET THERE ARE NO GOOD EXPERIMENTALMODEL SYSTEMS TO STUDY THIS BARRIER. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A MODEL EPIDERMIS BY CULTURING NORMAL HUMAN EPIDERMAL KERATINOCYTES ON A SUITABLY PREPARED MEMBRANE AT THE AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE. STRATIFIED CELL CULTURES OF MOUSEOR HUMAN KERATINOCYTES ARE BEING INVESTIGATED IN SEVERAL LABORATORIES, BUT THEIR AVAILABILITY IS LIMITED AND THE BESTCULTURES TO DATE ACHIEVE ONLY ONE-THIRD BARRIER FUNCTION. THE STRATIFIED KERATINOCYTES ON A MEMBRANE (SKM) TISSUE MODEL WILL ENABLE BETTER RESEARCH IN TRANSDERMAL DRUG DELIVERY AND TOXICANT PERMEATION. USING PRELIMINARY RESULTS ALREADY IN HAND, CLONETICS CORPORATION WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE SKM MODEL AND ISOLATE THE DIFFICULTIES IN PRODUCING THE SKM FOR THE RESEARCH MARKET. INITIAL WORK WILL CONCENTRATE ON ADEQUACY OF THE SUBSTRATE TO PROMOTE UNIFORM GROWTH, CULTUREPROTOCOLS THAT PROMOTE STRATFICATION AND DIFFERENTIATION, AND LIPID SUPPLEMENTS TO ENHANCE LIPID DIFFERENTIATION IN THE STRATUM CORNEUM, THE MAIN BARRIER TO TRANSEPIDERMAL PERMEATION. THESE RESULTS WILL YIELD A PROTOTYPE THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED FURTHER IN PHASE II TO SUPPLY THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY WITH A STANDARDIZED VIABLE EPIDERMIS IN VITRO.